Egyptian PM condemns deadly attack on Copts

An Egyptian youth takes in the scene beneath him at a Coptic Christian church in the Waraa neighborhood of Cairo late Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013 after gunmen on motorcycles opened fire, killing a man, woman and child. Egypt has been on edge since a July 3 military coup ousted the country's Islamist president. Since the coup, Coptic Christians have been killed and their churches attacked by angry mobs. (AP Photo/Mohsen Nabil)

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's interim prime minister on Monday condemned an attack outside a Coptic Christian church the night before that killed four people, including an 8-year-old girl, and pledged that police would find and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Attacks against Egypt's Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the country's 90-million strong population, have increased in the aftermath of the popularly-backed July 3 coup that ousted the country's Islamist president. But the attack late Sunday was among the deadliest in weeks.

Two masked gunmen riding on a motorcycle opened fire at a wedding party in Cairo's Waraa neighborhood as guests were leaving the Virgin Mary church, killing four people, including a woman and a little girl, said Khaled el-Khateeb, a senior health ministry official. The attack also wounded 17 people, he said.

Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi called the attack a "callous and criminal act," and vowed that such assaults will "not succeed in sowing divisions between the nation's Muslims and Christians."

The top cleric at Al-Azhar, the world's primary seat of Sunni Islamic learning, also condemned the attack in a statement Monday. "It is a criminal act that runs contrary to both religion and morals," said Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb.

Egypt's Coptic Christians have long complained of discrimination by the country's Muslim majority, and more recently, over what they see as the failure by the government to protect their churches against militant Muslims.

"What is happening is that all of Egypt is being targeted, not just the Christians," said Fr. Dawoud, a priest at the Virgin Mary church. "Enough! People are getting sick and tired of this."

The manner of Sunday's attack harkens back to Egypt's Islamist insurgency of the 1980s and 1990s, when militants attacked foreign tourists, Christians and senior government officials.

It is also the latest in a series of high-profile attacks blamed on Islamic militants in the country's capital — a city of some 18 million people — since the July ouster of President Mohammed Morsi.

In September, the interior minister, who is in charge of police, survived an assassination attempt by a suicide car bombing in Cairo. Earlier this month, militants fired rocket propelled grenades on the nation's largest satellite ground station, also in Cairo. The Interior Ministry reports near-daily discoveries of explosives planted on bridges and major roads.

Clashes between Morsi's supporters and security forces, occur daily in Cairo. At least 50 people, mostly supporters of the ousted president, were killed in the capital on Oct 6.

The army and security forces are fighting what in effect has become a full-fledged insurgency in the strategic Sinai Peninsula. Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, has for years seen intermittent attacks by militants on security forces, but they have grown to be more frequent and deadly since the ouster of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood-led government.

Egypt's tenuous security was reflected in a statement issued late Sunday night by the National Defense Council, a body that includes the president, prime minister, the defense and interior ministers in addition to senior army commanders. The statement, which followed a council meeting, signaled new measures amid growing street unrest and militant attacks.

"The state," it said, "will take measures and precautions that will drain the sources of terrorism and deter any attempt to breach the law."

A pogrom-like wave of attacks in August destroyed about 40 Coptic churches, mostly in areas south of Cairo where large Coptic communities and powerful Islamic militants make a combustible mix. Those attacks followed the death of hundreds of Morsi supporters when police raided their sit-in encampments in Cairo on Aug. 14.

Islamic extremists are convinced that Christians played a significant role in the mass street protests that led to Morsi's ouster. Their spiritual leader, Pope Tawadros II, has publicly supported the coup.

However, an association of Christian activists blamed the military-backed government of el-Beblawi for Sunday night's attack outside the Virgin Mary church, saying it has failed to protect churches since the August attacks south of the capital.

A Coptic youth group, known as The Association of Maspero Youth, also called for the dismissal of Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, accusing him of "sponsoring" an April attack on the papal seat of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Cairo.

The Maspero Youth Association was formed soon after more than 20 Christians were killed by army troops in 2011 outside Cairo's landmark, Nile-side state television building, known as the Maspero.

"If the Egyptian government does not care about the security and rights of Christians, then we must ask why are we paying taxes and why we are not arming ourselves if the police are not protecting us," said the group.

Associated PressCopyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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